


Interlude in Liepzig

by Elemental1025



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 11:48:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elemental1025/pseuds/Elemental1025
Summary: Steve gets himself into a spot of trouble while looking for Bucky.





	Interlude in Liepzig

**Author's Note:**

> Couple of f-bombs, brief reference to suicide.
> 
> Now with added art!! Still working on how to tag and credit properly.

Steve walked warily down the street, the brim of his baseball cap pulled down low over his eyes. At this time of night, the street was almost empty, just a few tourists trying to make it back to their hotels after a night of good food and good wine.

“You clockin’ the group on the corner?” Sam’s voice chirped in his ear piece.

“Yep, I got ‘em. I think they’re what they seem.” Steve kept his voice low, barely moving his lips. He didn’t want to screw this up. They had a real shot at tracking a mid-level arms dealer who was a former Hydra agent, so for once Steve’s current personal goals aligned with the Avenger’s public ones.

They’d had a tip about a meeting, Steve didn’t know where the tip came from, but Ross assured him it was vetted and solid. He turned another corner and found a doorway with nice, deep shadows.

“Sam, you getting anything on heat sensors from Redwing?”

“Maybe, give me a sec…”

Steve waited, feeling calm, feeling focused. This was his element. People always assumed he was looking to retire, he was asked about it often enough. But whenever he thought about it, really thought about it, the idea just felt wrong. Even before, he had always felt compelled to take a different path, maybe that’s part of what Erskine had seen in him too, so many years ago.

“Okay, I think I got something.” Sam’s voice took on an edge, and Steve shifted into ready mode.

“Two blocks west, middle of the block. Two signatures moving towards each other slowly. Let me see if I can get a visual.”

There was a pause while Sam adjusted his tech. “Okay, yep… that‘s them. We can squeeze them between us.”

“Got it, moving now.” Steve stepped out of concealment and made his way back to the head of the block.

“Dammit!”

“What, Sam?”

“They’re splitting up already, one is moving north toward me, the other farther west down what looks like an alley.”

“Okay, you take the one coming at you, I’ve got the other.”

“Roger that, hook back up with you in a bit.”

Steve picked up his pace, no longer concerned about being seen… he couldn’t let this guy get away. Ross had said he was part of a Hydra program called TRIDENT, which Sam had seen references to in his digging for a link to information on the Winter Soldier program. The odds this guy would know something useful were admittedly slim, but at this point, Steve was willing to have his tea leaves read by a psychic to get a lead. There was just nothing. It was like Bucky had become the ghost Steve had so long believed he was.

He reached the mouth of the alley, just as he saw his target turn down another one. This whole area was a maze of lanes and old cobbled streets laid out in another century, but Steve had a bead on him now, this guy wasn’t getting away.

Or so he thought. Suddenly, the scenario changed and Steve realized he was the target. The trap was for him, and he’d just sprung it. Movement behind him had him lunging hard to the left toward the closest thing he could see as cover. The projectile netting flew over his head and landed in a tangle among the garbage cans. More movement above and to the right, just as he went to call to Sam, and then a beanbag round hit him square in the back of the head. Dazed, his instincts kicked in and he zeroed in on training… escape and evade. He just started running.

He had no idea where he was now, but he knew he had to keep moving, and he needed help.

“Sam!” Steve could barely get the words out, “I’m in trouble.” Relief flooded through him when Sam’s reply was immediate.

“Where are you?”

“I have no idea, it was a trap. They want me for something; they were using non-lethal containment weapons.”

“Alright, on my way…”

Just as Sam’s words faded, something big tackled him from the left. He hit the ground hard, but he was still able to roll his attacker and throw him into a wall. Gaining his feet, he heard the rumble of an engine, probably a van, and turned to move in the opposite direction, but before he could take even one step, his body seized up and every nerve ending exploded in fire.

Slowly, his eyes began to focus again. He had no idea how much time had passed, he was on the ground, and semi-aware of his surrounding, but he couldn’t move. There was a flurry of motion around him, and grunting. Why was there grunting? Then he watched as one of his attackers flew over the hood of the van, landing in a heap a few feet away… Sam must have found him. He tried again to move, but the nausea had him rolling into a ball. What in the hell had they hit him with?

The grunting stopped eventually and the street became eerily quiet. He tried to call Sam’s name, but couldn’t form the words. The longer it went, the more anxious he became. Was Sam hurt? He tried to move again, pushing through the pain it caused. His brain felt like it was mired in molasses. He’d just managed to get to his hands and knees, when he saw a blurry figure coming towards him, but… it definitely wasn’t Sam.

“Shit.” Tony would rib him mercilessly for that, but he didn’t care. Long dark hair and a flash of sliver, he half wondered if he was hallucinating.

 

******************************************************************************

 

Bucky had known it was a mistake, even as he had dodged the afternoon commuters and stepped onto the train bound for Leipzig. Steve was going to be there, he’d seen it on the news. Especially after the Ultron fiasco, all the Avenger’s movements made news.

Words like _trap_ and _ambush_ and _capture_ , _containment_ , _confinement_ kept chasing themselves around in his head, but his feet kept moving anyway. He knew Steve was still looking for him, probably would never stop looking for him, even while responsibilities took him elsewhere, but it was better… safer, for both of them, if Bucky stayed lost. He knew Steve would never buy that though, so he never bothered trying to sell it. But that didn’t mean he didn’t still feel the same pull, the same thing that kept Steve looking.

The news had said this was some kind of diplomatic visit, but Bucky knew better, Steve didn’t really do diplomacy, so he was here for another reason. The smart thing to do would have been to grab his backpack and head for another continent. But there had been film of them arriving, Steve and Natasha, who he remembered shooting, and the guy he’d pulled the wings off of and tossed over the edge of the hellicarrier. He grimaced at the memory, but he was getting better at not following the memories down into the abyss. Compartmentalization. It was the only thing keeping him alive right now, that… and the thought of what his death would do to Steve.

It was the images of Steve that had gotten him on a train bound for exactly where he shouldn’t be. But Steve was just too close, and Bucky couldn’t let him go without at least getting a look at him.

Now it seemed like maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

Steve looked at him like he didn’t believe what he was seeing, “Are you real?”

Aw hell, “No, I’m your fairy fucking godmother. Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?”

Steve grinned, but it turned into a grimace when he tried to stand. He settled back on the curb instead. “How did you find me?”

Shit. Good question.

“You were here looking for me, weren’t you?” It was a bluff, but probably not too far off the mark.

Steve’s grin faltered, but then he cocked his head. “Not… exactly.” Steve took a breath, he looked pale. Bucky wondered if he should get Steve some medical help, but… he was already stretching it beyond sanity just by staying.

“We were following a lead, arms dealer.”

Bucky had known one of the goons, but he didn’t know who he worked for. Finding out how Steve got onto him could be important to both of them. It was a completely valid reason for not leaving just yet and to continue the conversation. The _intel_ was important, it had nothing to do with the possibility of seeing Steve smile again.

“Where did it come from?” If he knew that, it might help him see where the threat was coming from this time. There were still too many people who wanted his head, or his hide… or his skills, to count.

“I’m not sure,” Steve rubbed his eyes, Bucky could tell he was struggling to keep things neutral as well, trying not to chase Bucky away with questions he knew he wouldn’t answer, stay… professional. Bucky had thought a lot about what his and Steve’s first meeting might be like after DC… his imagination had never looked anything like this. He tried, but he couldn’t help the disappointment that crept in. “Ross said it was vetted, that there was a Hydra angle.”

Bucky scowled, he knew Ross. “Don’t believe anything that guy tells you, and next time… do your own vetting. You’ll stay alive longer.”

Shit, he hadn’t meant to say that, it was getting too close to admitting he cared.

Steve smiled, a real one, not one of those USO smiles, the one Bucky had been waiting to see, “They weren’t trying to kill me.”

Bucky couldn’t help it; he rolled his eyes, “No idiot, they were trying to use you to get to me.” Bucky clamped his mouth shut, there was no way Steve was going to miss the exasperated affection in his voice, he was now well and truly fucked. And they both knew the only reason that strategy would work was if Bucky remembered who Steve was and cared about what happened to him. It really was just one spectacularly bad choice after another today. His memory was still little more than Swiss cheese these days, but he did remember a lot more than he wanted anyone else to know. Even Steve. He tried to divert, adding a heavy dose of impatience, “If they think you know something, they’ll think they can get it out of you.”

“Why were you here, Buck?”

Suddenly the reality of the situation hit him, “It doesn’t matter.”

Steve started to say something, but stopped himself. Bucky was pretty sure he knew what Steve was going to say, and was grateful for the silence instead. Maybe Steve was finally getting that what either of them wanted didn’t matter, not anymore.

They both looked up as the red drone appeared above them.

“That your friend’s drone?” Bucky eyed it suspiciously.

“Yeah, he probably won’t be far behind it. “ Bucky could hear the resignation in Steve’s voice. They both knew this interlude was coming to an end, but Bucky couldn’t bring himself to leave just yet. It had been so long, and there had been so much… just being able to look at Steve like this, even battered and bloody, was worth it’s weight in gold.

As the winged guy landed at the head of the street, Steve called out, “It’s okay, Sam,” with a tone that told him to stand down, and the guy thankfully held his distance.

Steve struggled to get to his feet, bringing their eyes to the same level. He said simply, “Thanks.”

Bucky nodded. He knew if he didn’t go now, he wouldn’t, but he had to for both their sakes, so he turned sharply and didn’t look back.

 

 

*****************************************************************************

 

Natasha Romanov walked briskly down the hall of the Avenger’s Headquarters. She was dead on her feet after the conclusion of a mostly successful diplomatic conference in Leipzig and a 12 hour flight, but she knew she’d need the reassurance before she’d be able to get any rest. Security had told her they were in the hand-to-hand training center, which she probably could have guessed, and she paused briefly just inside the gym entrance to get the lay of the land.

Not surprisingly, Sam was close by, sweaty and gasping for breath on the floor near the water cooler, while Steve continued to pound one of the combat dummies on the other side of the facility. If Sam hadn’t briefed her, she would’ve had no idea anything exceptional had happened.

They still hadn’t acknowledged that they noticed her, so she made her movements casual and walked towards Sam.

“How is he?” She kept her voice low, so it wouldn’t carry to where Steve continued to punish the dummy.

“Oh, you know, “ Sam took another swig of water from his canteen and kept his voice low as well, “…we started with broody silence, then moved on to angry silence, then we even got some wistful silence, which was actually kind of adorable. But now I think we’ve reached peak plotting silence.”

“Did he tell you what they talked about?”

“Not one word.”

Without turning around, Steve suddenly called out, “I know you’re talking about me.”

Nat smirked, suddenly feeling much better about things if Sam was joking about a wistful Steve Rogers. They’d be okay, they’d figure this out. It would just take some time, but they’d be okay. “Geez Rogers, what an ego.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> If the first line seems familiar, it's intentional... I'm a long time Queen fan.
> 
> I love these guys so much, this is just another 'missing scene' in my MCU #Stucky headcanon.


End file.
